


Quiet

by seeyouin-Asgard (Sentiment_for_Lost_Creatures)



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: (When there is a chapter 3), Aftermath of Violence, Divorce, Established Jounouchi Katsuya/Kaiba Seto | Seto Kaiba/Joey Wheeler, Established Relationship, Injury, Injury Recovery, M/M, PLEASE READ THE NOTES FOR CHAPTER 3, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Past Child Abuse, Recovery, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-02
Updated: 2015-02-03
Packaged: 2018-03-10 05:15:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3278138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sentiment_for_Lost_Creatures/pseuds/seeyouin-Asgard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In retrospect, Kaiba should have known something was wrong when he woke up, however Joey is nothing if not stubborn and wouldn't have listened if he had said anything anyway. But that does not make any of this his fault, and Kaiba has to make sure he knows that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well hello Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom! 
> 
> Surprised to find myself posting here to be honest, but Netflix happened. Thanks Netflix, it’s not like I really have time to be rewatching Duelist Kingdom and Battle City…
> 
> I had the beginning of this lying around in the depths of my fanfiction folder, drafted well over 5 years ago, so I thought I might explore a bit now I’m in the Yu-Gi-Oh! frame of mind. I really should be finishing my Avengers WIP, but I can’t get this out of my head.
> 
> Um, so yes. I haven’t ever published any Kaiba/Joey fanfiction before, so I really would like feedback on characterisation etc. Let me know if I have completely ruined the characters for you. I hope not!
> 
> 100% NOT beta'd

“Puppy, I’m home.”

Seto calls, pushing through the front door that was slightly ajar; there is no reply.

_Now, where is Joey? He wasn’t going anywhe_ _—_ No.

The sudden realisation hits Seto like a brick. Joey hadn't explicitly told him where he was going, but he read between the lines easily enough, and now Seto was kicking himself. He shouldn't have let Joey go through with it, or at least he shouldn't have let him go alone. But then again, his lover is as stubborn as he is and wouldn't have listened to Seto if he voiced his concerns anyway. He should have realised today was the day, Joey hadn’t dragged him back to bed when he tried to leave.

It was part of their routine: Seto woke, attempted to get out of bed, and then Joey would expectedly stronghold him back to the mattress for some early morning cuddling. Seto relished in these moments of lucidity, Joey was always warm and supple and half asleep, he could lie with him in his arms watching him without feeling self-conscious about it. Joey doesn't even realise that Seto now sets his alarm early, just to allow them those extra few precious moments.

In retrospect, Seto should have noted the surprised expression from his personal assistant when he got to work early.

Seto walks into the open lobby of the house, grand staircases and high ceilings greet him as usual, but the quiet is… less usual.

“Joey, I’m back! Are you home?”

Seto places his briefcase on the nearest flat surface and goes in search of his lost Puppy.

_Now where could Joey be?_ The kitchen — _obviously the most logical place at this hour._

Seto smiles fondly, though rushes to the kitchen with his wide paced steps. Joey spends most of his life eating with that never-ending stomach of his, he eats what he wants and gets away with it due to his metabolism. If Seto were to eat as much the amount of weight he'd put on would be phenomenal.

_Empty._

“Joey! Are you here?!”

He gets the same blank reply and panic is beginning to settle in the pit of his stomach. As logically as his mind will currently allow, he sets about searching the mansion.

Dining room — empty.

Living room — empty.

Games room — empty.

_He must be in the bedroom then._ Hopefully.

But Seto knows Joey, and he hates being in bed during the day despite what people think of his nature; it makes him feel lazy and uncomfortable. Even when he's ill, Joey can never be left in bed, he always resorts to the sofa. The sofa was lavish enough to be a bed anyway, but that was the mansion all over. Overly extravagant. Unnecessary at times, but always comfortable.

He races to their bedroom, taking the stairs two at a time, his long coat billowing in his wake. Thank the higher powers for his stamina; barely out of breath he gets to the door. Pausing. He knocks in caution.

_Silence_.

He twists the handle slowly so not to startle Joey if he is in there, and pushes the door open. Seto creeps in, only to be greeted by _another_ empty room. He's _scared_ now. His Puppy was either somewhere unknown in this house — and he does know that Joey still can’t navigate himself around it after a year — or he was still _there_.

A shiver shoots through his spine, flaring through his nervous system like and electric shock.

Seto walks into the room, a crunching noise echoes from beneath his booted foot. The floor is covered in pieces of shattered glass, the remnants of a broken frame lay amongst it with Joey’s most precious photograph from his childhood: a picture of his family before it fell apart. Torn at the seams by divorce, alcohol and abuse. His mother cuddled his new baby sister, glowing with love for the child. His father with his arm protectively around the small boy and his then wife, proud of his family. Never could Joey have expected what was to come.

Seto tears his eyes away from the mess, trying not to focus too much on the blood he can see — he’ll clean it later. Glancing around the room until his attention centres on the bathroom door, slightly open, an ounce of light creeping in around the edges.

_He must be in there_ _,_ Seto prays desperately.

The bedroom is devoid of sound, everything is eerily quiet. Ever since Joey moved in, the mansion has never been quiet, it blooms with sound and life. The atmosphere is healthy and vibrant and that makes this moment even more despairing.

Seto approaches the door, a noise piques his eardrums. It's almost unnoticeable, but grows louder the closer he gets.

A whimper.

Sobbing.

_Pain_.

What did that monster do to him?


	2. Chapter 2

Seto’s mind was racing, his heart is breaking. He hadn't been witness to Joey crying in pain in a _long_ time. He knew Joey was happy living with him and Mokuba in the mansion, but he had dark days, days when the memories would re-emerge. Seto could tell those days when Joey had spent the day crying whilst he was at work. He was good at keeping up the façade he had built to protect his friends from the horror of his past life. Maybe to even fool himself. But Seto knew the emotional wounds caused by all those years of torture in his childhood and adolescence still hadn’t healed. Seto hoped that over time, things would get better for Joey; that the nightmares would vanish. To leave Joey to be the happy, carefree soul he so wanted to be; that he and Seto could _really_ start their life together. A new chapter for them both. A happier life they deserved.

But this is different, Seto can _feel_ it.

Reaching the door and proceeding with caution, he taps the wood, just loud enough to hear. He doesn't want to distress Joey any more than he already clearly is. He listens to the soft snivels accompanied by a slightly choked cough; Joey had heard him. He opens the door.

He had found his Puppy. _At last._

The scene in front of him breaks his heart. Joey is on the floor, huddled away from the door, tucked away in the corner near the counter, looking for a shield to block the world... and Seto from seeing him like this.

Joey looks petrified.

He clings to his dishevelled shirt for protection, the sleeves torn and ripped, hanging from his numb body. He tries to pull the shoulder up, to cover the blemishes on his skin. Ashamed. There was the smell of blood in the air. Seto can see from his place by the door that Joey's lip is busted, the red seeping through his white t-shirt, the discolouring around his wrists.

He’d never seen Joey like this before. He had been told the stories, but Joey would always hide the evidence of his abuse. The blood and the cuts and the bruises. Joey was a creature of habit; he may seem unorganised, which Seto was sure was always an act, but everything in his life had an order.

Even his abuse had followed a schedule.

Joey went to school. He came home to cook and clean. The drunkard would return from sleazy bar number one. The food Joey had prepared would never be up to ‘standards’: excuse number one for a beating. He’d stumble off into the night to more bars, hooker joints and cheap motels. Joey would be left to clean his blood from the carpet, the best he could, trying to rid the meagre apartment of anything that reminded him of what happened. The bruises, the fractures, the pain would already be too much to bear.  In the early hours of the morning, his father would return, drunker and more violent than before. That was the only reason he needed to beat his own son senseless.

Joey hadn’t been in this situation since he had left for the safety of the Kaiba residence three years ago. Once Seto had found out what sort of hell had been inflicted on Joey and the type person he had to live with, he’d gone round to pack his bags himself. He was leaving and it wasn’t an option. Not that Joey complained in the slightest. He had looked for a way out since his mother and sister had left when he was 8. He just didn’t want to burden anyone else with his misfortune and misery.

10 years it had taken for someone to notice. 10 years it had taken for someone to care enough to do something about it. 10 years of Joey’s life had been brutally stolen from him and nothing could change that. But Seto Kaiba does have a heart, despite what people think, and he took it upon himself to make Joey’s life better, to make him happy. Family, because that’s what Joey is to him now, is the most important thing and he would die to protect them. He just wishes he could have prevented Joey this pain.

**Author's Note:**

> I would love to hear from you all!


End file.
